St. Lucie County science fair projects impress both students and spectators alike

GRAYSON HOFFMAN/SPECIAL TO TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS
Tammi Adderley, left, and Livingston Adderley look at one of the 423 projects entered in the St. Lucie County Regional Science and Engineering Fair during the public viewing Saturday morning at Fort Pierce's Havert L. Fenn Center. The fair, which exhibits the scientific research of elementary- through high-school students, will have prejudging on Monday and the final awards decided Tuesday. "It's truly wonderful to be part of this and I am thoroughly impressed with the projects," said Shernett Alexander, the St. Lucie County K-12 science supervisor.

Grayson Hoffman

FORT PIERCE — A sea of display boards lined the interior of the Havert L. Fenn Center in Fort Pierce on Saturday as part of the county's Regional Science and Engineering Fair.

More than 400 science fair projects from elementary, middle and high school students from around the county were on display for public viewing ahead of Tuesday's judging.

Eager students, some accompanied by parents or relatives, strolled the many rows of boards to show off and inspect their own projects and scope out the competition.

Manatee Academy middle schooler, Morgan Steigerwald, 14, accompanied by her parents and younger brother, Michael, 9, browsed her fellow pupil's projects as she awaited the late delivery of her own project to the fair. For her topic, Morgan tested glass, copper and cast-iron pots to see which of the three boiled water the fastest. Disproving her hypothesis that copper does the trick the fastest, Morgan learned that glass was the really best choice for chefs in a hurry.

"I came up with this topic because I like to cook," Morgan said. "My favorite part was doing the trials."

A total of 177 elementary and 184 middle and high school projects were represented at Saturday morning's fair. An additional 62 kindergarten through fifth grade projects, not eligible for judging, were showcased. After the judging process is completed, the winners will be announced at a ceremony Feb. 10 at Treasure Coast High School in Port St. Lucie. Fourteen lucky middle and high school winners will secure a spot to represent St. Lucie County during the state competition in Orlando in March, Shernett Alexander, K-12 science supervisor said.

Alexander said the regional fair is the perfect opportunity for students to physically apply the knowledge they've learned throughout the year.

"This is really exciting for the kids," Alexander said. "They learn a lot from the textbooks, but now they're actually seeing science in action."

One of those excited kids was Northport student, Karen Vera, 14, who concluded through her experiment that the steeper the slope, the higher the soil erosion rate. Karen, who enjoys growing plants in her big backyard during her free time, said farmers could learn a lot from her conclusions.

"If farmers plant on a hill, a lot of the top soil with all of the nutrients is going to get washed away," a proud Karen said. "I didn't think my project would make it to the regional fair. This is my first time and I'm really excited."

Spectator Andrea Brinley of Fort Pierce was impressed by the amount of high-quality work on display.

"The projects are wonderful." Brinley said as she and her daughter, Courtney, 9, browsed the mass of boards. "You can tell the kids put a lot of work into it."

The awards ceremony:

Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 10

Where: Treasure Coast High School, Port St. Lucie

Guest speakers: Will include Miss Florida USA 2010, Megan Clementi, who is also an engineering major, who will share insight with students about various fields of science.

Judges: Middle and high school students are judged by a panel of community members with a background in science. Middle and high school students and teachers judge elementary school students.